I'm a writer of faith who worries about the intolerance of religion. I look at the past and fear we haven't learned from it. I believe that humanity is capable of evil as well as great acts of courage and goodness. I have hope. Deep down, I believe in the human spirit, although sometimes that belief is shaken.

Faith in God's revelation has nothing to do with an ideology which glorifies the status quo.

Karl Barth

My wife, whenever I'd go off to work and I'd be kind of anxious, she'll say, 'Remember, have fun.' Oh, I forgot, thanks for the reminder. Because sometimes we do forget. We take it all too seriously and there's a lot of joy to be had wherever you are.

Jeff Bridges

This place is the Devil, or at least his principal residence, they call it the University, but any other appellation would have suited it much better, for study is the last pursuit of the society; the Master eats, drinks, and sleeps, the Fellows drink, dispute and pun, the employments of the undergraduates you will probably conjecture without my description.

Lord (George Gordon) Byron

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles.. by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

Mark Twain

To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.

Lewis H. Lapham

A propensity to hope and joy is real riches one to fear and sorrow real poverty.

David Hume

Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.

Martin Mull

If you're able to help some people and make them smile and make them realize that life is good, then that's worth so much more than buying a pair of shoes.

Maria Sharapova

My greatest concern is that the emergence of this technology without the appropriate public attention and international controls could lead to an unstable arms race.

K. Eric Drexler

It was the end of the October term of my sophomore year, and everything was petty normal, except for Social Studies, which was no big surprise. Mr. Dimas, who taught the class, had a reputation for unconventional teaching methods. For midterms he had blindfolded us, then had us each stick a pin in a map of the world and we got to write essays on wherever the pin stuck. I got Decatur, Illinois. Some of the guys complained because they drew places like Ulan Bator or Zimbabwe. They were lucky. YOU try writing ten thousand words on Decatur, Illinois.

Neil Gaiman

A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

When dancing with a pit bull, it's always best to let him lead.

Michael Barnett